07/04/2009

I find the Republican criticism of President Obama's commentary regarding Iran to be skipping over a critical point.

Iran finds itself in the middle of an internal revolution, just five months after President Obama assumed office, several weeks after signaling a new approach to dealing with Iran and about 20 days after his Cairo speech.

Anyone who listened to or read the speech cannot possibly come to the conclusion that President Obama is timid.

If you have any semblance of an open mind, read the Cairo speech. This single statement of reason and honest review of the centuries-old conflicts in South Asia and the Middle East has given rise in the region to new hope for an end to these mindless conflicts. It’s spawned optimism that lives in these desperately poor countries can begin to focus on improvement rather than destruction.

This eloquent change of tone – vastly different to the counterproductive tough guy talk of the past eight years – is sparking a revolution of freethinking citizens who are sick and tired of being represented by the likes of the Iranian leaders.

As one Iranian businessman told me recently, when it became apparent that the U.S. was not an immediate threat, the citizens in Iran had the luxury of turning inwards to address their countries problems and poor leadership.

I thank God everyday that the US has a bold and courageous and smart leader.

05/28/2009

A prominent conservative business man in OKC sent a diatribe about how the economy has shrunk on a percentage basis less than the depression's economy shrank and yet the amount of spending has dwarfed that directed at the depression on a percentage of the GNP basis ... or, in other words "Obama is spending much more than he should!"

Walters' reply:

Very interesting – and seems to prove the notion that if not for President Obama's aggressive, vigorous and dynamic attack on this economic problem, you and I might already be on the soup line!

In all seriousness, it does seem a little counter intuitive to say that the cure was an overkill to the problem. When the world money system shut down on Sept. 15, 2008, where were these chaps? On an island in Tahiti? Faced with a world-wide monetary collapse, forget about relative comparisons of our complicated globally dependent economy to one 70 years earlier. I am thinking it was hard to overreact.

What they see as a crazed African American socialist giving away the treasury to his constituency, I see as the arrival (finally) in Washington of a real leader. Cheers.

A friend in the oil and gas industry forwarded a letter from Gov. Henry to President Obama regarding proposals in the federal budget that would affect some of Oklahoma's independent producers.

Walters' reply:

Here is a different view.

I'm very proud that we finally have a president who has the political courage to take on a whole range of corporate tax breaks that make little sense.

Look at how fabulously wealthy these oil and gas companies have become, extracting God-given resources. They're lucky to live in a country where such resources are privatized via royalty holders and where, if the economics make sense, they can develop the resources.

As a result, the US has drilled many times more holes than any other countries. But that's not enough. Many also want incentives and unusual tax breaks. When I build a power plant, I'd love to have the Intangible Drilling Credit break that these companies have - even when gas was $4 a gallon! It's time to end these unfair, unequal, born-out-of-special-interest-contribution tax breaks.

You may have also heard the howling from the major corporations as the Obama administration moves to get rid of the off-shore tax havens. Guess what? I have some and I could not be more pleased that they may be eliminated. My view is that if other corporations are allowed to do it then I am not going to voluntarily pay more than my fair share. But it's a ridiculous policy and should be eliminated.

Opposition from Gov. Henry and Rep. Boren likely springs from a degree of political expediency of not wanting to counter key supporters. Understandable from a political viewpoint, but Obama is unlikely to listen.

We live in a big, beautiful country (that I believe is quickly getting better) with a kaleidoscope of opinions. Thanks for listening to mine.